Chennai: Rahul Dravid, the only Indian other than Sachin Tendulkar to have scored 10,000 runs in both forms of the game, was omitted, at least from the first two games, from the Indian squad for the seven-match series against Australia commencing next week.
The National selection committee met in Chennai on Thursday and announced a 15-member team, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, for the matches at Vadodara (October 25) and Nagpur (October 28). Dravid's omission might mean he bid goodbye to his ODI career.
The squad does not contain any surprises, given Dhoni's well-known preferences. The decisions to drop Dravid and include the likes of untried 22-year old fast bowler Sudeep Tyagi at the expense of Rudra Pratap Singh and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for Yusuf Pathan, were to be expected.
Likewise, the return of Virender Sehwag, seamer Munaf Patel and Yuvraj Singh whose fitness is still open to question, was on the cards. However, young Rohit Sharma, who not long ago was considered the "next best thing" after Dravid, does not figure in the frame, as of now.
Also out are stumper Dinesh Karthik and Abhishek Nayar who had a rather unhappy tenure at the highest level, unable to reproduce his Indian Premier League form that had won him a call-up.
A statement from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said: "The selectors were advised that Yuvraj Singh would definitely be fit to play on the 28 October 2009. It is possible that he may be able play the first match also. The decision on the playing eleven for the first match will be made based on Yuvraj Singh's fitness on the 25th October."
With the BCCI putting a gag on its national selectors, it can only be debated whether Dravid would ever regain his spot in the ODI team. It is also a matter of conjecture whether the selectors have made a gesture of taking Dravid into confidence to specifically inform him that he does not any more figure in their scheme of things vis-a-vis the 2011 World Cup.
Earlier this year, in the wake of the disastrous Twenty20 World Cup campaign, the panic-stricken selectors scurried up the ladder to the cricketing attic, brought down Dravid after a two-year ODI break and put him in the team to hold fort on the supposedly pacy and bouncy South African pitches during the Champions Trophy that followed a tri-series in Sri Lanka that India won.
The Champions Trophy was also an unmitigated disaster and India, without Sehwag, Yuvraj and Zaheer Khan, failed to get past the first round. And now, as if Dravid, who top-scored (76) against Pakistan, had overstayed his welcome, the 36-year old Bangalorean has been shown the door.
Questions remain unanswered whether the selectors could not find a single young batsman capable enough to counter the hyped up South African pitches and of course stand up to the fast bowlers who were predicted to rule the roost. Dravid's recall, in fact, ran counter to the BCCI's professed ideal of "preparing" the national team for the 2011 World Cup.
Now that Indians will be facing Ricky Ponting's Australians on flat, if not turning, pitches at home, it is business as usual for the selectors. However, it is a moot point whether the selectors would go running back to Dravid should Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson smoke out the Indian batsmen.
The squad for the first two matches: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Virat Kohli, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel and Sudeep Tyagi.
Fixtures (all, except at Guwahati day/night matches):
Oct 25 - Baroda; Oct 28 - Nagpur; Oct 31 - New Delhi; Nov 2 - Mohali; Nov 5 - Hyderabad; Nov 8 - Guwahati; Nov 11 - Mumbai.
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